Cuba in the News
Archive for
2001 and before

Cuba criticizes plan for detention center 12/30/01 Chicago Tribune: "While condemning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Havana has also opposed the bombing of Afghanistan, calling it a barbaric massacre of civilians to advance imperial goals."

Cuban prisoners in Miami honored as Heroes of the Republic of Cuba, acknowledgement of their mothers and wives 12/30/01 Granma: "These "prophets of the present and the future" – as Deputy Raúl Suárez called the five Cubans sentenced for the "crime" of having loved their country – infiltrated the depths of hatred and injustice, in order to learn of a large number of the activities of the hardcore terrorist groups that operate with total impunity in the United States. They discovered their plans and alerted Cuba, with the goal of preventing the death and damages that would result from such actions.
These five men, who have become symbols of universal dignity, also prevented terrorist actions that would have seriously hurt the people of the United States, and their recompense for such noble and generous efforts was to be arrested and forced to live for the last three years in subhuman prison conditions, and put through an arbitrary and manipulated trial. Now, without any legal or moral justification, they have been given disproportionate and unjust sentences." All too true.

Guantanamo keeps media and justice at bay 12/30/01 Sydney Morning Herald: "Just 850 kilometres from Miami, Guantanamo provides proximity while being beyond the convenient reach of the US legal system and journalists." Wonder if the Miami Mafia will be protesting this as they protest against Cuba's legal system.

'Negroes With Guns' 12/28/01 NewsMax: NewsMax is far to the right. The author seeks to trade on Robert William's legacy.

Veterans object to sister-province ties with Cuba 12/27/01 Seattle Post Intelligence: "A King County plan to pursue a sister relationship with a Cuban province has inflamed some local military veterans, who say the county has no business dealing with a communist country that the United States lists as a sponsor of terrorism." Who are these people? Are they as vigorous in their condemnation of China for the communism (in Seattle!) or Miami for the terrorism?

Miami judge sentences Cuban agent to life in prison 12/27/01 Sun Sentinel: "Guerrero's primary assignment was to warn Havana about signs of a U.S. invasion of Cuba. He reported on military flights, aircraft, base remodeling and changes of command at Key West Naval Air Station, in part by translating articles from the base newspaper into Spanish and encrypting them." For this, he gets a life sentence. The federal judge, owned by the Miami Mafia, is embarked on a strategy of increasing tensions and promoting the perpetual war that financially benefits the Mafiosi. La Mas Fea no perdona!

Venezuela initiates extradition procedures for terrorist Posada Carriles 12/26/01 Granma: ""Luis Posada Carriles fled the San Carlos Garrison [in Venezuela] on September 8, 1982, where he was being held. On that occasion he was captured and brought before the courts once again, but he managed to escape [again] on August 18, 1985," Dávila said." Word is he was aided by Jorge Menos Canosa, mas o menos.

La analista arrestada pudo influir en militares de EU 12/23/01 El Nuevo Herald, Miami: One DIA analyst said to be working for the Cubans had the power to influence all analyses of the military potential of the island, leading countless US military commanders astray. How gullible does El Nuevo Herald think we are?

US fury at SF in Cuba 12/23/01 Sunday Independent, Ireland: "THE US Administration regards Gerry Adams's visit to Cuba as even more disturbing than the arrest of the IRA suspects in Colombia, the Sunday Independent has learned. Senior diplomatic sources describe the trip as "irrevocably damaging" to Sinn Féin's standing in Washington." When the Baroness from the Tory party in the UK visits Cuba, it's ignored, but Sinn Fein, that's another matter!

'Pedro Pan' priest dies; Walsh guided Cuban kids 12/21/01 Miami Herald: "Guided" them very well! Monsignor Bryan Walsh, was responsible for the kidnapping of 14,000 children on the hysterical pretext that they they were going to be sent to Russia and turned into canned meat. See Alberto Jones' column, Honoring a Mass Kidnapper: Monsignor Walsh, 1/13/02. That this passes for a good deed shows how hard it is for Americans to understand right from wrong and just who is a terrorist.

Senate Defeats Smith/Torricelli Amendment to Farm Bill 12/20/01 LA Working Group: Torricelli, who has distinguished himself by supporting Iranian terrorists (the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), also known as the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, listed by the State Department as terrorists) in addition to Miami ones - "An amendment offered by Senators Bob Smith (R-NH) and Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) threatened to amend language from the multi-year Farm Bill (S. 1731) which would reform U.S. policy toward Cuba." The posting from this expert lobby group describes follow on action

Cuba's Lourdes Radar Base, Terrorist Mohamed Atta and the Kremlin 12/20/01 NewsMax: A magnificent piece of disinformation and no doubt a harbinger of things to come. Campy in places, and still relying on the al Qaeda anthrax connection which now seems conclusively to have emanated from a US military or spook source. Diehard anticomunism which ignores that al Qaeda originated in an anticommunist struggle. But never mind the details!

GROWING INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT IN SOLIDARITY WITH MIAMI 5 PRISONERS 12/19/01 Radio Havana: "During an event at a downtown Miami hotel to honor relatives of the
five Cuban political prisoners, speakers also addressed the issue of
terrorism. Max Lesnick -- one of the organizers of the event, along
with the Antonio Maceo Brigade and other groups opposed to
Washington's policies against Cuba -- said that those who plant bombs
in Havana are ironically called "heroes" and "patriots" by Miami's
right-wing Cuban-American community. Lesnick affirmed that the true
heroes and patriots are behind bars -- convicted and sentenced to
long prison terms for trying to stop terrorist actions against their
country."

None accused of Cuba travel able to get hearing 12/17/01 Boston Globe: "Nine years after Congress granted the right to civil hearings for anyone accused of violating the Cuba travel ban, no judges have been hired and no hearings have been held. As of September, 357 cases were pending, some of which date to 1995, said a congressional aide, who provided the figure on condition of anonymity. Piano tuner Ben Treuhaft of New York City, for example, has waited for his day in court since being accused in 1996 of illegally traveling to the communist island...Most of those awaiting hearings are not complaining about the delay. People who negotiated settlements have paid fines averaging $7,500, while Treuhaft and others have not paid a cent."

Report says lifting US embargo against Cuba would help energy firms 12/17/01 Oil & Gas Journal: "A study issued Monday concluded that lifting the US trade embargo against Cuba could provide US energy firms $2-3 billion/year in new revenue.
The report was from the Cuba Policy Foundation, Washington, DC, which has been lobbying to get the embargo removed. Authors were Amy Myers Jaffe, with the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, Houston, and Ronald Soligo, a Rice economics professor. They wrote the report as consultants, not Baker Institute representatives."

WHITE HOUSE STEPS UP THE PRESSURE FOR OTTO REICH'S NOMINATION 12/15/01 Radio Havana: "On Friday, the White House claimed that Otto Reich has enough votes
in the Senate to be confirmed to his new post in the Bush
administration -- but strongly complained that Senator Dodd is
refusing to give him a hearing. Dodd has stated that Reich's
nomination -- in his words -- "is dead."

High press repercussion for unjust condemnations in Miami 12/14/01 AIN, Cuba: "Several agencies reported as insolit, even not surptising for Cubans, the statements by the Federal Attorney in South Florida , Guy Lewis, who had the nerve to declara that this had been a great day for the United States. Minutes later he was seen embraced with Jose Basulto, Chief of Hermanos al Rescate, one of the most recognized terrorists sited in that Florida city." See the AfroCubaWeb Basulto page.

Convicted Cuban Spy Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison 12/14/01 VOA News: Maximum penalty for spying on Miami terrorist groups: USA shamed! "A Miami federal court has sentenced a convicted Cuban spy to 15 years in prison for being an unregistered foreign agent in the United States."

Miami low life prevails in sentencing of a patriot 12/13/01 AfroCubaWeb: by Alberto Jones: "If we are all expected to accept the fact that it is punishable to spy on known terrorists, who until recently in 1999 led a string of bombings in hotels in Cuba that caused the death of an Italian tourist and injured many Cubans, including childrens, shouldn't someone admit complicity?"

Cuban spies intended to stop exile terrorists, mothers say 12/12/01 Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale: Watching the Miami Mafia, who have murdered thousands of Cubans in cold blood over the years through airplane bombings, the bombing of factories, bioterrorism, assassination, etc etc, seems necessary. When Orlando Bosch and other convicted terrorist murderers walk the streets of Miami with pride and the US police agencies fail to do their jobs, much as they allege that Saudi police fail to do theirs, what else is there to do but keep the Mafia under surveillance?

Cuban spy ringleader sentenced to life in prison 12/12/01 Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale: Fascinating how infiltrating a US based terrorist organization becomes a crime. Does this mean that Cuban American narcoterrorist groups are now very officially part of the US national security apparatus?

Redrawing the lines on Cuba 12/11/01 CubaNet: "What does the poll show? Results indicate a trend toward moderation. Specifically: 55 percent of exiles believe confrontation has been a failure; 53 percent believe that travel to Cuba is an important agent of change; only 23 percent of exiles are hard-liners."

Adams to risk US links on Cuba trip 12/11/01 Times, UK: "GERRY ADAMS, the Sinn Fein President, is to visit Fidel Castro in Cuba at the risk of damaging the Irish republican movement’s relations with Washington."

Filmmaker Faces Fine for Cuba Video 12/5/01 Cigar Aficionado: Land of the free, home of the brave: "Making a tourist video wasn't his intention, but when Mytchell Mora played back footage he gathered during three trips to Cuba, the Los Angeles-based filmmaker jumped at the opportunity and set to work. Now, with "Havana, Cuba" finished and available, Mora faces a new obstacle: the U. S. government, and the possibility of a $250,000 fine."

For Latin America, a candidate from the terrorist mafia 11/29/01 Granma: "On October 11, Senator Christopher Dodd, in a letter to the Wall Street Journal, repeated the message and invited the president to send a "qualified" candidate.
But George W. Bush was not impressed.
Thus, a few days ago the "nomination" reappeared at the Senate’s door. And this time in the hands of Secretary of State Colin Powell himself, who put his own reputation on the line. And a more angelical argument as well: the Gulf War hero asserted that there is nothing in Reich’s background that "disqualifies" him for this very important position."

Take a break in Cuba from anxieties, tensions and fears 11/29/01 Granma: ""Everyone should know that they should refuse to give the self-incriminating information demanded," he explained. In case of receiving the pre-penalty notice, people should exercise their right to ask for a hearing within 30 days after the letter’s date. The National Lawyer Guild has forms prepared in response to whatever letter the Treasury might send concerning unlicensed travel to Cuba; these forms can be accessed at www.cubalinda.com.
"The record of the past five years is that after a hearing is requested, the Treasury Department files away the case because no appeals hearings have been held, nor have any judges been appointed to hold such hearings. Up till now, the processing for all such cases has stopped at that stage."

A City of Ostriches 11/29/01 Radio Progresso, Miami: "Maurice Ferre provided a telling description of this local product to The New York Times after his recent electoral defeat. This experienced politician who received the support of 68% of white non-Hispanics and 88% of black voters, attributed his defeat to “ a lot of dirty stuff here” masterminded by “the right-wing fanaticism in the Cuban-American community.” Adding, “It is the lock-step blind, fanatical rejection of anything not within the purview of what they think is right. There is no middle ground in the minds of many of these people.”
The irony here is the type of Cuban-American described by Ferre. It is the same type of person that for years proclaimed that Miami’s success was due to the Cuban-Americans. Now they refuse to acknowledge any responsibility for this ‘poorest city’ debacle. "

Bush appointee linked to terrorism 11/28/01 Guardian: "...it is Mr Reich's relationship with another Cuban American, Orlando Bosch, which now seems certain to derail his appointment. Bosch was first arrested in 1968 for firing on a tanker docked in Miami on the grounds that it was trading with Cuba. He was charged with conspiracy to damage and destroy planes and ships bound for Cuba and jailed for 10 years. Released after four years he went to Venezuela and was arrested there in 1976 after a Cuban plane had been destroyed by a bomb with the loss of 73 lives. He was acquitted and Mr Reich then attempted to help him obtain a US visa… Yesterday, a Senate foreign relations committee source said that Reich's name had now been sent back to the White House as being unacceptable. The source indicated that Democrat senators on the committee have asked for another name to be submitted"

Captured Taliban may face trial in Guam 11/28/01 Guardian, UK: The shame: "Controversial plans to place alleged al-Qaida terrorists before American military tribunals at a US naval base in Cuba and on the Pacific island of Guam are being drawn up in Washington amid growing fears over the fate of thousands of prisoners in Afghanistan."

Big Vote in U.N. Against U.S. Embargo Against Cuba 11/27/01 Reuters: "And he said that putting Cuba on the State Department list of terrorist states was particularly outrageous.
"This is an outrage to the Cuban people, who have in fact, as everyone knows, been the victims of countless terrorist acts organized and financed with total impunity from U.S. territory," Perez said."

SHOOTDOWN: SOME REFLECTIONS 11/27/01 Zmag: Originally published in October, still valid today: "Despite Cuba's long struggle against sabotage by such planes and the fact that the violators were repeatedly warned to stop the flights, many insisted that Clinton was justified in punishing Cuba with the Helms Burton Act. Those brutal Cubans, they said. Yet, can any one seriously doubt that the U.S. military would shoot down an aircraft if the incident over Havana were to be repeated over Washington, DC?"

Near vote, Houston focused on race 11/26/01 Boston Globe: Miami Mafia seeks to extend their control to other US cities: in Houston, on the backs of African Americans, as it was in Miami when they first moved in.

Debts of slave owners and racists 11/26/01 Granma: Valid today as it was when first published in August 2001: we will be seeing much more of the Slave Route metaphor it persues.

Denuncia Cuba estratagemas para no enjuiciar a Posada Carriles 11/22/01 Agencia Cubana de Noticias: Details the stratagems of the Miami Mafia, including the CANF, to get Luis Posada Carilles, one of the most horrendous terrorists in the Americas, off the hook from having attempted the assassination of Fidel and 2,000 Panamanians with a large bomb.

Henshaw VI, New Obong of Calabar, Installed 11/22/01 AllAfrica: "The coronation event would invlove a church service at the Duke Town Presbyterian Church, Calabar, the Calabaris of Cuba sending a delegation while Efik communities in United States, United Kingdom, and Canada are expected turn up in large numbers, the chieftaincy title of Ada Idaha Ke Efik Eburutu, the one personally conferred by His Majesty, the Obong of Calabar, would be bestowed on deserving persons and the question of peace, progress and social cohesion in the communities would be addressed at the end of the event."

Fidel May Be Part of Terror Campaign 11/10/01 Insight, US: Martin Arostegui is a right wing journalist born in Manila who contributes to the National Review, Insight, and Cuban exile publications. He specializes in defense, counterrorism, and special ops. Insight is a Washington Times publication, the Sun Yung Moon crowd of ultra right crackpots. This is an example of hysterical writings based on complete fantasy. Ana Belen Montes was monitoring US based terrorist, a long term major concern of Cuba, which has faced many terrorist attacks, including bioterrorism, in the last 40 years. Putin pulled out of Lourdes because he was embracing an alliance with the US, not because the Cubans were up to mischied at Lourdes. Cuba is widely recognized in US intelligence circles as not engaged in terrorism. It is on the State Department list thanks to Cuban exiles, who want to shift the blame for their long history of terrorism. The article is riddled with lies and half truths, depicting Cuba's response to 9-11 as one of gloating which was far, far fom the truth.

Castro's Planes Fly Over U.S. Despite Terrorist Ties 11/3/01 NewsMax: This is about the only undistorted thing in this feeble article by the come mierda at NewsMax: "He referred us to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. Repeated efforts to reach the Cuban office through two separate phone numbers resulted in incessant ringing during business hours. No one answered."

AS WAR FALTERS, US ENACTS NEW REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION 10/31/01 Radio Havana: Every US resident is a legitimate company target: "This will mean the loss of privacy in one fell swoop. Now telephone
conversations can be listened in on without a warrant, microphones
can be planted in homes and automobiles, in offices or in all three
places . People's most intimate activities can be spied upon and the
courts will be unable to interfere. But that is just the beginning. Now the CIA finally has something it has been desiring for decades: it can now legally mount covert and open actions inside the United States. Not that anyone believes it
wasn't already done, but it was done clandestinely and exposure could
bring legal action against the spy agency.
Among the many troubling issues is that those who exercise their
constitutional right to assemble, that is, participants or promoters
of protest demonstrations, could for political reasons, be
interpreted as pro -"terrorist"…. This law has brought new fears to the common people in the United
States, not from far away foreign enemies, but from the very
institutions that are designed to protect them and insure their
security. More and more the United States is looking like the police
states it so loudly deplores."

Shootdown: Some Reflections 10/26/01 The Black World Today: "In June 1996 the International Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO] issued its report on the shootdown, concluding that Basulto's plane penetrated Cuban airspace on February 24, 1996. If that event occurred now, after September 11, 2001, Congress and the President would perhaps not be able to blame such a shoot down for the passage of a horrendously oppressive law like Helms-Burton. Finally, the people of our own country may be able to understand what the citizens of other countries feel when threatened from the air. Helms-Burton was going to be passed anyway--minus Title III, which, in any event, is so outrageous that it hasn't been enforced. How shameful that we as a people have allowed Cuba's defense against terrorists to be used as justification for a terrorist law aimed at starving the Cuban people into submission."

Castro Says Anthrax Less Serious Than a Cold 10/25/01 Reuters: Fidel, whose land has had to face numerous acts of bioterrorism: ``Studied properly, anthrax is less serious than a cold,'' he said in a speech Wednesday in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba. ``There are appropriate medicines to make the bacteria disappear very quickly.''

INVENTORS OF BIOLOGICAL WARFARE NOW EXPERIENCE ITS HORRIFYING EFFECTS 10/23/01 Radio Havana: "Though the "father" of biological warfare is well known, no one in
Cuba is happy to see the suffering and fear of the U.S. people, or
to witness innocent people dying. For those who are responsible for
terrorist acts committed against a tiny country whose only crime is
trying to be what it wants for the last 40 years, we simply want to
recall a popular refrain in Cuba: "What you don't wish for yourself,
don't wish for anyone" -- or in other words: "Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you." Wonder if they have heard of that one
in Washington."

Castro: the bioterrorist
in our backyard 10/1/01 New Australian: Pastors for Peace, that dangerous group of bioterrorist, stands accused of bringing a rat poison into the US to hurt the American people. Perhaps they were really worried about the recent increasers in rat populations in many US cities? This article is a tissue of lies.

2004 Presidential Campaign Begins 5/17/01 Global Exchange: "Both Helms and Lieberman received significant campaign contributions from the Cuban-American National Foundation (the CANF) in the last election. Lieberman met with CANF officials during the election and pledged to support them. Today Lieberman made good on his promise when he and Helms co-sponsored a bill in Congress that would appropriate $100,000,000 in aid to Cuban dissidents."

Cuba had warning for 1961 invasion 3/23/01 MSNBC: "Secret Cuban documents made public Thursday disclose that the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion came as no surprise to Fidel Castro’s government. In fact, three months before the invasion took place, covert agents were directly feeding detailed information to the head of G-2, Cuba’s military intelligence apparatus." And now the US sentences the patriotic Cuban spies to life in revenge?

Cuban Missive Crisis 2/1/01 Miami New Times: "But each, through his court-appointed lawyer, has admitted to spying for a good reason: to protect the lives of people in Cuba from extremist elements of the exile movement. From people who might be crazy enough to bomb hotels in Havana, assassinate Fidel Castro, or even invade the island -- it has been known to happen. In fact three of the men about which the Wasp Network was worried -- Luis Posada Carriles, Guillermo Novo Sampoll, and Gaspar Jimenez Escobedo-- currently are under arrest in Panama for a plot to kill Castro during last November's Ibero-American Summit."

THE RETURN OF THE CONDOR 1/5/01 Prensa Latina: "Cuban-American terrorist Luis Posada Carriles' recent
detention in Panama, for leading a commando group that brought explosive
devices into that country to attempt to assassinate Cuban President Fidel
Castro during the 10th Ibero-American Summit is daily acquiring greater
importance.
In the many recent trials against dictatorships of the South, these same
people appear to be accomplices in the so-called Operation Condor."

Their Eyes Were Watching Eleggúa 4/20/00 Miami New Times: "One sign of the relevance of Santería to the six-year-old is a letter that has been circulated and discussed on Spanish-language radio for several months. It relates a bizarre story involving Fidel Castro, human sacrifice, and the rafter child. The tale has outraged some Santería practitioners, who believe those who want Elian to remain in Miami are manipulating the religion for political ends."